Welcome to the Fishing Report. It is sunny right now and 68 degrees. Townsend is fairly busy this morning. There is some tourist activity and more than usual traffic for a weekday. But, it is summer and we expect more people. Little River is in great shape. All the streams in the Smokies are. I can’t remember when the forest was this lush. The drought is over in the Southeast United States according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. See it HERE. The future outlook through August indicates the drought is not coming back. It’s about time. The only bad spots in our Country are in Texas, California and Nevada with a few other abnormally dry areas scattered around.

Fishing is good in the Park. This bright sun we have right now won’t help but clouds will move in. We have a good chance for rain for the next two days. And then it is going to get hot, in the 90’s later this week. For now I would do my serious fishing early and late. By late I mean from 7:00 pm until dark. During the day I would fish the shady areas until the cloud cover comes. Terrestrials, Light Cahills, Parachute Adams, Yellow Parachute Adams and any Yellow Sally Stonefly patterns should work. I would use the Yellow Sallies in the evening for sure. The Neversink Caddis make a good, high floating yellow stonefly pattern. Oh, don’t forget your Green Weenies. Don’t be on the stream without those.

I’m still tying Stealth Bombers at home at night. I have super glue on my fingers to prove it. I know I have a Stealth Bomber problem because I have way more than I need and I just keep making them. My problem is, the newer ones look better than the older ones. Ever had that happen? Maybe it is a perfection disorder. I need to get over this and start tying Puglisi threadfin shad.

This is all part of my project to get back to my childhood. I have missed lake fishing for decades and spent most of my time on streams. Paula and I ordered a bare bones fishing boat just about like the ones we used back in the 50’s. I have 5, 6 and 7 weight rods strung up in our fishing room at home just waiting to go. I have tied relentlessly building an inventory of warmwater flies. We have no vacation plans this year, we’re just going to fish the area lakes. I’ve studied the lake charts and will keep doing so. Everything is ready to go except that darned boat. They were out of them at the factory and they are supposed to have ours delivered in about two weeks.

This is also a business strategy though it was not meant to be at first. I talked to a customer about what we are doing the other day and he seemed very interested. Maybe other people are ready for a change or addition to their fishing routine. And this just might fit in with the times. Instead of going to Alaska you could go to Dale Hollow. Instead of Belize try Tellico Lake. Maybe that won’t work for you but I think it will work for me. A person can justify the cost of a boat like the one we ordered by saving money on travel and accommodations very fast.

To me, fishing is fishing. Now we are still going to be fly fishing. Fly fishing is not just fishing. Fly fishing requires different skills that took me a long time to learn. Fly fishing for wild trout in a stream requires different skills from fishing for smallmouth bass in a lake or tarpon in the ocean. One of the fun things about this sport is acquiring the skills.

Then there is the problem of forgetting the skills and re-learning them. This change won’t keep me from walking up the Middle Prong and catching trout. But it may make me appreciate it more.